


The “I Love You”s of a Doll

by Eissel



Series: Whumptober 2019 [10]
Category: Violet Evergarden (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Declarations Of Love, Depiction of war, F/M, Missing Scene, No 17 - Stay With Me, Pining, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-22 18:54:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21081446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eissel/pseuds/Eissel
Summary: A pair of missing scenes:1. The Lights Have Gone OutIn which Gilbert attempts to explain his feelings (and is just a few seconds late)2. DaybreakIn which Violet realizes what Gilbert meant.





	The “I Love You”s of a Doll

She held his head in her lap. “Major-”

“Violet.” His voice is shaky, her name a mere stutter as he forces up blood from his throat. It splatters onto her uniform. “Violet, I-”

“Please stop talking Major, you’re losing too much blood.” He heaves up another spurt of blood and his body spasms. He feels too cold. She wishes she could squeeze his hand, to give him the human comfort he most surely desires, but her remaining arm is useless, dangling like a strip of meat at her side. He coughs again, and that forces him onto the cold rubble. One brilliant turquoise eye is forced shut by the bullet wound, the other forced open by pain and agony. He grunts as he forces himself into a sitting position. His eye scans their surroundings, then lands on her.

“Violet, leave me...”

“I refuse to Major.”

“That’s...” He coughs wetly, the sound grating on her ears. “That’s an  _ order. _ ” 

“You said I had no more orders.” 

“God… You’re incorrigible.” He forces himself to brace against the wall, pushing his exposed back to the cold stone. “Violet, leave me. I’m going to be of no use to you.” The wall of rocks bricking them in rumbles, and debris falls from the ceiling. She coughs from the dust. 

There's an explosion in the distance. "Go!" He screams. 

"I won't let you die Major!" His face screws up in agony. 

“Violet...” There are tears forming in his good eye, and his voice breaks. She grabs a hold of his uniform, and unsteadily gets to her feet. Her body protests, pain lancing through her arm, and she can feel the strain she’s putting on it.

She muddles through it anyways, dragging him away from the explosion. 

“Stay with me Major.” She says as she drags, mind focused on getting them to relative safety. “Stay with me.” When she finally gets him settled, her arm falls away, separated due to the trauma and stress it has endured. 

Light filters through the far end of the hall, up a staircase. She could make it on her own, it would be all too easy compared to dragging the Major here. A ragged cry tears itself from his throat as he spasms again, and Violet turns to watch him in silence. 

The sight of his agonized face burns itself into her memory. 

She leans forwards and grabs his uniform with her teeth. “I won’t let you die!” She pulls, but he barely budges. 

“Stop.” His voice, reduced to a mere whisper brings tears to her eyes, and she pulls  _ harder.  _ “Violet! Stop!” He finally screams at her. “You have to live.” 

She draws back, the sheer raw emotion in his voice startling her out of her one-track mind. “Violet, you have to live.” He reaches up to brush a few hairs out of her face, and they make eye contact. The turquoise gleams in the low light. “Be free.”

_ No.  _ He can’t throw her away like this, can’t  _ abandon her  _ like this. She makes to grab at him again, but he backs up into the wall before she can do so. He hisses as his open wounds meet the stone, and tears run down his face. “From the bottom of my heart…” He trails off, seemingly lost in memory, and then he smiles. “I love you.” Violet trembles, and she rocks back onto her knees. 

“Love? What is that?” She desperately questions him, her own tears running down her cheeks. “I don’t understand!” Her sobs cause him pain as he shifts, and coughs up another spurt of blood.

Time’s running out. The explosions are coming more frequently, and the debris falls in larger and larger chunks. 

“Love is-” He starts, then goes frighteningly silent. The Major hears something she doesn’t, and lunges for her. She starts to open her mouth to shout him down, but her head meets the ground long before the first sound forces itself out of her throat.

The last thing she hears, is the whistle and the explosion.

She never got to hear what he meant by  _ I love you. _

⸻⸻⸻

She returns to his grave after the festival, a second letter clutched in her hands. 

“Hello Major.” Even after all this time, it somehow seems sacrilegious to utter his name, so she retreats behind formalities. “I’ve come to make my final report.” Her body trembles, her prosthetics clench and nearly crumple the paper. “I… The Colonel found me.” Tears run down her face. “He did as you asked him to Major.” She sniffles, and rubs her face raw before straightening up. “I no longer need orders.”

She clutches at the brooch, the color of his eyes. The letter flaps against her chest, the spring winds blowing all too strongly. She starts to open her mouth to continue, but finds that she can’t. The words won’t come, all tangled up in her dry throat and feelings. 

“...Major Gilbert.” If the words won’t come, then she’ll start over. “My  _ beloved  _ Major Gilbert…Thank you for taking care of me while I was in your service. It took time… It took a  _ long  _ time for me to come to terms with your departure. I had failed to understand your feelings.” A vivid memory makes its way to the forefront of her mind. Her first “I love you.” 

She drops to her knees, and places a hand on the tombstone. Her fingers trace the letters. “In the time since you left us, I have started to learn about emotions, all because of this new life you gave me. I… I owe you so much… And I can’t even say thank you in return.” She lets the tears run down her cheeks this time. “I still have hope that you are still alive somewhere, and so I will live my life in the best way I can. And if one day, if fate is kind enough to let us meet again, I hope to tell you...” Her voice cracked. “I hope to tell you that I finally understand what I love you means.” 

She bowed her head, and let her heartfelt sobs ring out. 

She stayed there for another 15 minutes, letting her tears sink into the ground. Getting up, she dusted off her skirt, and placed the letter before the gravestone. “Goodbye for now, Major Gilbert.” She said softly, and walked away.


End file.
